Michael Reaves' Professional Credits / Vigil.

3/10/03 7:51 PM

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

"Vigil"

ACT ONE

INT. BATCAVE / INT. THOMAS WAYNE MEMORIAL CLINIC

ALFRED is working in the Batcave, dusting, putting things way; the usual
jobs, which he has been doing longer than he cares to remember. The
phone rings; he puts the caller on the speaker so as to continue working
as he talks. We INTERCUT between him and LESLIE THOMPKINS at the clinic.
She's finishing for the night. Alfred assumes she wants to talk to
Master Bruce, says he's not here. Leslie says she called to talk to
Alfred -- she's got the results of his latest physical. "Your health is
excellent, but you seem rundown. I'd recommend a rest. After all, most
men your age, with your means, would be comfortably retired by now." She
adds that she recently won a trip to Barbados in a raffle, but can't get
away; would Alfred like to go? Alfred demurs, though he would like to
... he tells Leslie that he's been feeling like a bit of a fifth wheel
around here. Oh, he takes care of the shopping, cleans, etc., etc. --
but how important is that, really? Leslie tells him stuff and nonsense;
he's a vital part of Bruce's operation.

Their conversation is interrupted when the Batmobile comes screeching

down the ramp. It's obvious something is very wrong -- the big car is
weaving, barely staying on the road. It crashes against the wall, and
Alfred goes running to it. The canopy slides back, and BATMAN staggers
out. He collapses in Alfred's arm, manages to mutter "... Poison ..."

INT. SICK BAY AREA

Alfred helps Batman to an examining table. The Dark Knight is delirious

now, muttering incoherently. Leslie, hearing something of this from
afar, is demanding to know what's going on. Alfred tells her, trying to
keep calm. At her request he describes the symptoms. Leslie says she
thinks she knows what kind of poison it is, but she can't be sure, or
know what antidote to administer, until she gets there and examines him.
"I'll call Dick and have him pick me up at the clinic and get me there
as soon as possible," she instructs Alfred. "Meanwhile, whatever you do
-- keep him conscious. I don't care if you have to tap dance for him,
just don't let him pass out. If he does, he'll never wake up!" She hangs
up.

Alfred rushes to Batman's side, pulls his cowl back to see his face.

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Bruce is conscious and coherent, but barely. He says weakly, "Get Dick
... tell him ... he'll have to take over ..." "Rubbish!" Alfred says.
"You've come through tougher scrapes than this! You can't give up now,
not after all these years." "Face facts," Bruce mumbles, half-delirious.
He starts to fade. "You made a vow, remember?" Alfred says, desperately,
trying to keep him awake. "A vow of vengeance, a vow of dedication. A
vow that was to last a lifetime. Don't you remember, years ago ...?"
And, as he asks the question, we segue into:

EXT. CRIME ALLEY - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

Police cherrytops strobe the night. The coroner's wagon is here as well.
Cops and crime scene techs mill about. A YOUNGER LESLIE comforts YOUNG
BRUCE as A YOUNGER ALFRED stands beside them, not sure what to do. We
see the boy look up, eyes now dry of tears, his grief replaced by a look
of determination somehow unsettling in one so young. Alfred's V.O.:
"Remember, Master Bruce? Remember at it was like ...? You went into that
alley a normal, contented little boy, and came out ... something else.
Something forever changed ..."

INT. YOUNG BRUCE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

Young Bruce lies in the bed, Alfred and Leslie beside him. Alfred's
V.O.: "Remember how Leslie and I cared for you while the lawyers sorted
out the estate? You were in shock, of course." Leslie bends, kisses
Bruce on the forehead. "I know it seems like the hurt will never go
away," she says gently. "But you have to believe that one day it will."
Alfred and Leslie leave, and the boy lies alone in bed, staring up at
the darkness, clenching a small,white-knuckled fist and whispering, "I
won't let it go..." as we DISSOLVE TO:

INT. WAYNE MANSION - HALLWAY AND BEDROOM (FLASHBACK)

Alfred stands outside Bruce's bedroom door, wearing a catcher's mitt and
holding a bat and ball. He knocks on Bruce's door. There's no answer.
Alfred's shoulders slump and he goes downstairs.

In the bedroom we see Bruce, now TWELVE YEARS OLD, studying books with
titles like "Fundamentals of Criminal Psvchopathology" and "Introduction
to Law Enforcement", scowling in concentration.

INT. WAYNE PRIVATE GYM (FLASHBACK)

The teenaged Bruce works out with grim intensity, doing kips, press-ups,

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etc., on the parallel bars, vaulting from there to a rope which he

climbs using only his hands. Alfred holds a stopwatch, timing him.
Alfred's V.O.: "There is a quote by your favorite philosopher which you
made your motto at an early age: 'That which does not destroy me makes
me stronger'." Another scene in the gym; Alfred teaching Bruce to fence.
"I hated to see you grow up so grim, Master Bruce. But it was not my
place to say anything. It was my job to do no less than what you asked
of me, but my duty to do no more." DISSOLVE TO:

INT. BATCAVE - SICK BAY (PRESENT)

Alfred leans over Bruce, who's still breathing, eyelids fluttering as he

hovers on unconsciousness. "Remember, Master Bruce?" Alfred says
urgently. "Remember how you became what you swore you would be? Don't
give it up now. Don't ..." and as Alfred entreats Bruce, we go to:

EXT. DOWNTOWN GOTHAM - NIGHT

Where ROBIN roars up to the clinic on a Batcycle. Leslie is waiting.

Robin explains he had a spare costume and cycle stashed at GSU -- he
thought he might be able to get her to Bruce's side more quickly on the
Batcycle than in his sports car. He hands her a helmet and Leslie gamely
climbs on, noting that she hasn't ridden a motorcycle in thirty years.
They roar off, weaving through traffic. We travel with them as Robin
expertly pilots the cycle around cars. But then -- as so often happens
in Gotham -- a car full of gangsters shooting at a pursuing police car
careens around a corner, heading straight for them! It looks like a
collision is inevitable as we FADE OUT.

END ACT ONE

ACT TWO

EXT. GOTHAM STREET - CONTINUOUS

The car swerves, seeking to avoid the cycle, and Robin veers as well.
The car goes up on two wheels and Robin and Leslie pass under the tilted
car's undercarriage and narrowly avoid the police car giving chase. The
gangsters' car collides with a lamp post and, looking back over her
shoulder, Leslie sees the cops surround the gangsters. Then they're out
of sight and zooming down the dark streets toward the city's outskirts

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and Wayne Manor.

INT. BATCAVE - SICK BAY

Alfred leans over Bruce, talking to him. "You can't give up. This city
depends on you. Master Dick is too young to take over yet. You can't
leave him." Bruce rallies, says weakly, "I was ... his age ... when I
started." Alfred agrees that this is true. "I remember how hard you
worked, how you pushed yourself to become a fighting machine ..." and
off that, we DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. WAYNE MANSION - DAY (FLASHBACK)

Alfred holds a newspaper and watches as Bruce (EARLY TWENTIES) works

out, smashing a makawara dummy with edge-hand blows. We see the
headlines on the paper in Alfred's hand, something about a mysterious
ski-masked vigilante averting a holdup, but the crooks got away.
Alfred's V.O. continues: "You thought that righteous rage and superb
conditioning would be all you'd need. But after your first attempt at
fighting crime, you realized that something more was required --
something that would strike fear into the criminal heart." CUT TO the
bats boiling up out of the crevice. "And then you found your destiny ...
and your curse ..."

EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF GOTHAM - NIGHT (PRESENT)

Robin and Leslie shoot down the road on the Batcycle. Suddenly a highway
sign appears in the cycle's headlight: ROAD FLOODED AHEAD. Robin swerves
the cycle. "Hope you're into offroad biking, Leslie," he says as they go
roaring through the woods, swerving to avoid trees and rocks. Leslie
hangs on for dear life as the batcycle jumps a crevasse. The cycle's
superb shocks keep her from being injured, but her nerves aren't
enjoying this.

INT. BATCAVE - SICK BAY

"You remember that first night, don't you?" Alfred asks Bruce. ""That
first night, when you stalked the streets of Gotham City to aid those
who were victims as your parents had been. I certainly remember it --
even though I wasn't there for the most part. From what you've told me
of it it seems as vivid to me as it must be to you ..." DISSOLVE TO:

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INT. MAIN CAVERN (FUTURE BATCAVE) (FLASHBACK)

This is essentially the scene from the feature in which Bruce dons the
costume (the old style) for the first time. Alfred picks up the cowl
from the dressmaker's dummy and hands it to the shadowed figure of his
employer, who puts it on with his back to us. Then he turns, eyes
glowing, demonic -- and even the imperturbable butler is taken aback. We
play Alfred's reaction -- deeply disturbed and concerned -- as this as
yet unnamed creature of the night moves past him.

INT. BATCAVE GARAGE (FLASHBACK)

The look should suggest that they are just beginning to prepare the cave
as a headguarters for Bruce -- stairs are roughly carved from the rock,
electric bulbs strung on wires ... Alfred overtakes Batman as the latter
approaches the first version of the Batmobile. Alfred bars Batman's way,
tells him that he made a promise years ago to Bruce's father to watch
over Bruce and guide him to maturity "should anything ever happen" to
the elder Waynes. "Now," says Alfred, "you are an adult, and I am no
longer bound by that promise. And there are certainly no guarantees that
no harm will come to you if you persist in this folly. And so, sir, if
you cannot be dissuaded, I must request that you accept my resignation."
Batman stares at him for a long moment, then says curtly, "Do what you
have to do." He roars off in the Batmobile as Alfred clenches his fists
in frustration.

INT. BATCAVE - SICK BAY / EXT. BACK ROAD (PRESENT)

The phone rings, interrupting Alfred. It's Leslie on the cycle's

cellular speakerphone while Robin concentrates on piloting the cycle.
Intercut with the cycle roaring along back roads, dodging and weaving
potholes. "How's he doing, Alfred?" "Marvelously," Alfred says with
false cheer. "We've been having a jolly chat about old times." "We'll be
there soon," Leslie promises. "Keep him conscious -- he's got to hang on
just a little longer." Alfred looks over at Bruce during this, and to
his horror sees Bruce's eyes close and his body slump. The butler dashes
to Bruce's side, shakes him -- and gets no response. "Master Bruce!
Master Bruce, wake up! You've got to wake up!" But Bruce is still, limp
and unresponsive as we FADE OUT.

END ACT TWO

ACT THREE

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INT. BATCAVE - SICK BAY - CONTINUOUS

Leslie's voice crackles over the speakerphone. "Alfred, what's wrong?"

Alfred is frantic with worry. Robin starts to shout into the speaker,
"Bruce, snap out of it! C'mon back, partner! You can do it!" For a tense
moment there's no response; and then Bruce's eyes flicker open.
Relieved, Alfred keeps talking, trying to maintain the connection.
Asking Bruce to remember with him that night when Batman first appeared
in Gotham City ...

VARIOUS QUICK CUTS - BATMAN'S FIRST NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

Showing him busting up a mugging, stopping a robbery, preventing a

carjacking ... a shadowy avenger who appears out of the night and then
vanishes the second his job is done. Play peoples' reaction to this
creature of the night.

INT. WAYNE MANOR (FLASHBACK)

Alfred is packing his bags. The TV is on; a live camera crew has
captured one of the mysterious crimefighter's exploits on tape. The
NEWSCASTER reports that the police believe the man to be the mysterious
vigilante figuring in a number of recent violent conflicts with petty
criminals. Perhaps a quick interview with BULLOCK, as a patrolman,
expressing fear that this costumed nut is dangerously out of control,
and a red-haired GORDON saying he's just glad this "Batman" appears to
be on our side. Alfred's V.O.: "I feared for you, Master Bruce, but I
told myself it was not my problem any more. You had chosen your course."
He continues packing some old theater props from his thespian days in
England -- including a prop pistol.

EXT./INT. CHEMICAL PLANT - NIGHT (FLASHBACK)

A gang is knocking over the safe in the payroll office, and Batman is
going in after them. This is our rousing third act setpiece -- Batman
takes out the crooks one by one, swinging from catwalks over roiling
vats of chemicals, sending batarangs flying. Ricocheting bullets' sparks
in flammable chemicals cause a fire to start. Fire alarms are tripped.

INT. WAYNE MANOR (FLASHBACK)

Alfred is packed, and leaving a note for Bruce. The live coverage of a
four-alarm fire attracts his attention, and he sees Batman silhouetted
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for an instant against the flames. Emotions war in his face, finally
giving way to grim resolve as he opens one of the suitcases, takes
something unseen from it and then races out.

EXT. ALLEY / EXT. STREETS (FLASHBACK)

Batman has wrapped up all but one of the criminals, and is chasing him
through an adjacent alley. INTERCUT with Alfred in a sports car, racing
through the streets, past barricades and fire trucks spraying water on
the plant. Batman corners the last crook in the alley and closes in on
him, disappearing into the shadows, terrifying the crook, who fires
futilely into the darkness. "Who are you? What are you?" the crook
screams. "Vengeance," Batman hisses, and a fist rockets out of the
darkness, hammering against the crook's jaw. Alfred runs into the alley
in time to see a heavily breathing Batman holding up the unconscious and
bruised crook, fist cocked to deliver a final blow. The sound of a
gunshot brings him to his senses. He stiffens, whirls -- and sees
Alfred, standing in the alley entrance with a smoking pistol held upward.

"That's enough," he says quietly. His V.O. continues: "It was an old
prop pistol, a memento from my acting days. But it was all I needed to
get your attention. The years of training, of preparation, were finally
over -- ended as they began: In an alley with the sound of a gun ..."

Batman steps up to Alfred. "Another lecture?" he growls. Alfred shakes

his head sadly. "Your father was a great man, Master Bruce. I would not
presume to replace him." Batman turns away, shrouded in darkness,
troubled. "Then -- what are you, Alfred?" "What I have been all these
years," Alfred says with the barest trace of irony. "I am -- the help."
A moment of silence; then, in a shaking voice, Batman says, "Then, for
god's sake, old friend -- help me. Help me to grieve." He turns back to
Alfred and the two embrace, and we SLOWLY DISSOLVE BACK TO:

INT. BATCAVE - SICK BAY (PRESENT)

Bruce still lying, semi-conscious, with Alfred taking his pulse.

"Together we built a legacy, Bruce. And you became someone that any man
would be proud to have for a son." Then he realizes in shock that he
can't find a pulse. He shakes Bruce, calling his name. No response. He
slaps him, trying to bring him out of it. Finally he climbs onto the
table, begins to pound on his chest, trying to start his heart,
screaming: "I won't let it end like this ... not after all we've gone
through ... not after all the sleepless nights and senseless pain I've
endured because of you! Live, blast you, live!" A tense moment -- and
then Bruce gasps. His eyelids flutter. At this moment Leslie and Robin
come roaring in on the Batcycle. Leslie dashes to Bruce's side, goes to
work professionally and efficiently as Alfred slumps into a nearby
chair, exhausted. Leslie gives Bruce an injection, monitors his

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reaction, then nods. She turns to Alfred. "You did well. He'll live."

"You can find someone else for those tickets to Barbados," Alfred tells
Leslie. He looks at Bruce fondly. "My place is here." He takes his place
beside Leslie and Robin, looking down at Bruce as the latter opens his
eyes ... and the longest night of our heroes' lives comes to an end.

THE END

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